Yesterday was my first visit since lockdown and how much it has changed. I arrived early, eager to have a good look around and absorb the vitality of the woods. It’s a different place to what it was two months ago. At first it was like discovering a new woodland, there was an unfamiliarity about it that at times disoriented me. The colours so vibrant and the clarity of the air seemed to make every shape seem crystal clear. The wood was full of birdsong and I spotted a couple of nest boxes had blue tits popping in and out, feeding their young.

The pond looked somewhat stagnant. We have had a run of weeks of dry weather and the level had dropped about three inches. I topped it up from the water barrel which was still full. The beech trees around it make it a very dark area which is not ideal for a pond, so it may never be a particularly thriving place for pond creatures but it is serving the bird population as a place to drink and bathe. I couldn’t spot anything living in it.

I didn’t intend doing much work but couldn’t resist retrieving and stacking a few more logs from the winter’s felling sessions. It was just so good to be back in there and now that we have been given more freedom to drive and exercise, I shall aim to start more regular visits and maybe an odd camping over-nighter.

Ash dieback disease is raising it’s ugly head again. In the past few years it has tended to show up in mid summer rather than spring but here’s a sapling showing typical symptoms – healthy new shoots suddenly wilting and drooping, later turning almost black. There are a number of still healthy saplings around so I’m hoping some will show resilience to resist the disease. I can’t help feeling a kind of sympathetic link to the species as our human one also faces a devastating disease at the moment.

There’s not much more I can tell you about the day so I’ll just add some more photos to show how lush and green and beautiful nature is right now. My local short walks through woodlands and riversides recently has certainly helped me through this horrible situation we find ourselves in, so get out there and enjoy it, you will feel better for sure.

What the heck does that title mean? The dictionary defines microcosm as – a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger. During the lockdown, being confined to our houses and having some great weather right now, means we have probably been spending a lot of time in the garden. As a frustrated wildlife observer, now that I can’t visit my woods and only having a very small garden, I have been watching the activity closely. I’ve just built a small pond and desperate to see some life in it, have been staring into it on a daily basis. I’ve sat in the sun and just looked at insects flying around and birds landing before making for next doors feeders. It suddenly occurred to me how much I have seen that I would not normally have noticed and that I am becoming an expert on my own miniature nature reserve – butterflies such as Peacocks, Tortoiseshells, Commas and hoverflies.

To ease my lackdown frustration I bought another trailcam to put out in the garden. It’s something I have toyed with in the past to see what goes on during the night. The garden is tiny and I had no expectations of seeing anything of interest. Neighbours cats, Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws and an assortment of common garden birds attracted in by next doors feeders was all I expected. To my delight, the trailcam has revealed two interesting night visitors. My first downloads revealed a field mouse and a hedgehog sussing out the freshly dug soil by the pond.  I haven’t seen a hedgehog for years and certainly not in my garden so I was over the moon to see one. It was what I’d really hoped for but didn’t expect. I told a neighbour who also got excited and gave me a small packet of cat food to put out for it. I was unsure, expecting her cat or the Jackdaws might gobble it up but to my delight, next morning the camera revealed not one but two hedgehogs. I put together two compilations and you can see them here –

I’m taking my daily exercise walks and am really lucky to live close to a river and woodland. That’s a two-sided coin though. I get my daily “fix” of spring trees, blossom and wildlife but it also reminds me of what I am missing seeing at my woods. I must not complain because I know there are people locked up in urban areas who don’t have that opportunity. Anyway I shall try to continue putting something on here to give you a short escape from the subject (corvid19) that we are continually bombarded with. Take care and get some nature into your head.

Wood Anemones this time last year.

You don’t need reminding that we are in lockdown due to Corvid19. We are bombarded with it every day at every corner we turn and it’s worrying and stressful and it sometimes feels like we are waiting for the Apocalypse and the inevitable to happen. It’s hard to stay positive and just when I really want to be at my woods, I can’t go. There are jobs and fun projects to do there and it’s the best time of year to see it as it clothes itself in it’s finest spring glory. I’m going to continue adding some posts because it’s one way we can enjoy a bit of nature even though it’s only in pictures and words. Those two things are powerful reminders though and can trigger good memories and for a while we can boost our feelgood factors a little. I shall post some photos from previous years and some new videos of wildlife at my woods that you haven’t seen yet.

We can still take a nice walk for exercise so if possible, try to find a route that takes you through some green spaces. If you are lucky there might be a woodland, river, stream or hillside nearby. Just being there will lift your spirits if you can switch off from the bad news and turn your attention to what is going on around you. It struck me the other day, as I walked over the old packhorse bridge near my home, how everything apart from the human race is just carrying as normal. It’s only our species that is in complete turmoil and chaos. It’s a beautiful time of the year in nature. Plants are emerging, trees opening their leaves and flowering, birds singing and calling and building their nests, oblivious to what we are experiencing in our daily lives right now. But we can still be a part of that wonderful metamorphosis, it’s abundant and it’s free.

It’s also an opportunity to reflect on our lives and what’s important. Use the time to enjoy what you still have. Do some sorting out, read that book you’ve been meaning to but not had the time. If you have children at home, teach them some valuable lessons that they don’t get at school. Just enjoy the luxury of time, which is a rare commodity for working folks. I’ll leave you with a couple of links to my woodland videos I have compiled. Take care.

I guess everyone is sick of hearing about the virus and the madness surrounding it. There’s panic and fear and total disruption and threat , not only to health but our finances, our social lives and so many other aspects we have probably not thought about. A day in the woods or anywhere in nature reminds us that this worldwide problem is just about humans. I look around and see the trees and plants coming back to life, birds singing and busy with their nest building and once again it brings to mind how far removed from a natural way of living we have got. The rest of life on this planet is ticking over nicely (global warming and pollution caused my man being their only real problem) totally unaware of the chaos afflicting us. Things will be very different in a couple of years time and sadly I don’t think we will have learnt much from it. But it could be a time for reflection and as people find themselves out of work, distanced from their social circles, it gives us the opportunity to spend time with more creative pursuits. As we steer away from crowded and polluted cities, we might find ourselves taking walks in the countryside and that gives us a chance to restore balance and appreciate what we actually have on this planet.

Yesterday was to be a day of sanity and sanctuary from this madness. As I drove up the ride, I was greeted by a buzzard taking off from my woods. Primroses, Dog violets, Wood Anemones and Blackthorn are in flower. I spent the first hour or so just taking it all in, feeding the birds and sussing out plans for some future projects and feeling so grateful to have this amazing space to enjoy.

It was to be a day of hard work too. The sycamore trees I have felled needed cutting into moveable lengths and stacked. I shan’t be felling anymore until winter but I want to get the chainsawing jobs out of the way as soon as possible so the woods and birds can have some peace during nesting season. It was hard, back breaking work but I pretty much completed it. More hard work to come shifting it all now. My friendly neighbours came too and offered to give me a hand with some of the heavier pieces in the near future. As well as the physical aspect of hauling heavy logs around one at a time, the time element of walking backwards and forwards, trip after trip is a long process. A wheelbarrow helps with the smaller logs but many of them are four feet long and very heavy.Very satisfying work though.

I don’t have much more to report this time, when I have edited the latest trailcam videos, I’ll post a link to one or two of them. So for now, try to turn this horrible virus situation into something positive. Get creative somehow, get out into nature – it’s one of the best times of year to be out in the woods, along the riverside or on the moors. This place is about to burst into life soon regardless.Best wishes to all of you.

I’m drowning in Coronovirus news. The media is unrelenting with it’s reporting and fear mongering, so a day in the woods was just the medicine I needed yesterday. Spring has notably stepped forward since the last visit and these are the first showings of Wood anemone flowers. In the next few weeks the woodland floor will be totally transformed from the drab brown of winter with a carpet of green and white. These plants are only to be seen in early spring, taking advantage of the sunlight before the tree canopy closes in. Some of the mosses are looking amazing too.

As I took my early morning walk around the woods, a loud gaggling could be heard above. I expected to see a flock of geese and was surprised to see 20-30 swans flying above the tree tops in formation. I checked the pond and cleared out some of the many leaves. No sign of frogspawn yet. As I filled the bird feeders, the little birds were already gathering in the small oak trees that the feeders hang on. As soon as I finished and stepped back, they swooped in, eagerly taking a seed and flying off to a quiet spot to eat it. Then back for another. They will need to build their strength for the nesting season.

The recent storms have set me back with my tree felling/thinning plans so I wanted to take down a few more before spring really kicks in. I took down eight sycamore and left them on the ground to deal with later. There are still lots more to thin out over the next few years before the area can be left for a while. The gradual thinning is preferable to a more active felling approach, so that the humidity and light levels aren’t disturbed too much to the detriment of ground cover, mosses etc. These will be the last until next winter.

Time for a brew and a rest. I bought a rubber stamp with a logo I designed to use on my various crafts – woodwork, leather etc. I wanted to add my makers mark just to add some professionalism to my products. This little pouch is one I made to hold a vesta match case which lives in my vintage camp stove kit and I tried the stamp out on it. It’s slightly smudged but I don’t mind. The name I chose for my logo is Erthe Crafte. Most of the materials I use are derived from the Earth originally and I like the medieval spelling.

Back to work, dragging and carrying out some of the four feet long logs I had previously cut so they can be stacked for seasoning and cutting up in the future. The pile is looking good and no doubt the gaps between the logs will be used by various small creatures as shelter and nesting places.

I took another walk around to see what elements of nature have woken up from Winter. My feral honey bee colony is still alive, several bees could be seen in and out of the hole. Primroses are in flower, wild garlic leaves are shooting up and the leaves on the smaller trees like Hawthorn, Hazel and Elder are opening. I spotted a Peacock butterfly enjoying the sun but it closed it’s wings before I could take a photo. Nearby a small bunch of wild daffodils were in flower and a large Bumble Bee was out foraging. I’ll leave you with a few more photos of the woods at this amazing time of year.

Peacock butterfly with folded wings

wild Daffodils

dead Beech leaves left over from Autumn

Hawthorn leaves opening

Hazel leaves opening.

It was cold and foggy as I drove to the woods yesterday but that was about to change and in a few hours, the first taste of spring would arrive. We have had weeks of windy, wet weather and although some plants had started to emerge from the cold wet earth, it has still felt very wintry. I have been feeling quite low, overwhelmed by the persistent drag of winter and now the continual references to coronavirus and how it will (supposedly) devastate the world population. So I was truly in need of some wholesome, healthy time in the woods.

I had lots of jobs to do but first – feed the birds. As soon as I stepped back from the replenished feeders, they were swooping in, grabbing a seed and heading off to a secure place to eat it, then back for more. It filled my heart with joy to see them. I took a long slow walkabout, literally soaking in nature. I was a sponge. The weak sun, a welcome old friend, followed me as I took in as much as my senses could provide. Young new growth pioneered the return of life and the birds joined in the celebration with their various calls. I was in the moment and wanted it to stay this way forever.

My feeling of connection to nature has deepened so much since taking guardianship of these woods, working to improve it’s health and encouraging the wildlife. I recognize that it does my mental health the world of good too. I’ve been thinking how I would like to find a special spot, hidden away from the paths, where I can sit and just soak in the beauty and energy of the woods. Not only for me but for any guests that might also need a bit of solace and feel the magic of this place. This is one potential spot. It’s a pair of mature ash trees close together on the edge of an ancient ditch and bank feature. Next to it is a lovely hazel tree with it’s straight cluster of rods. This spot always plucks a string when I visit it. At times, the early morning sun streams through and illuminates it. A few years ago, I fixed an open fronted nest box there and hid it with the pile of deadwood but no birds have ever used it. I plan to clear it out and can imagine sitting between the two trunks with a nice mug of filter coffee or just taking some time to absorb the ambience of it all.

If this sounds a little bit “airy fairy” to you and hard to digest, then let me assure you. I am by nature a very practical down to earth person. I worked in the telecommunications industry as a technician and actually, that’s what eventually burned me out. I can say for sure, that time spent in a beautiful natural environment like a woodland, is the best medicine for our fast paced, stressful lives. Slowing down our minds and feeding our senses with wholesome, natural sounds, sights, smells etc will raise your serotonin levels and bring that sense of calm and relaxation we all need. Once you put yourself there, the key that will open the door is awareness. Try to find that long lost child inside you. The one that explored the world around you with innocence and intrigue and a sense of playfulness. The one that was fascinated by the small lives – insects, birds, etc going about their business. Be part of it and not apart from it. Look and watch, listen and smell and take note of how you feel and how you can be part of this microcosm of life around you without intervention. Be a silent observer.

I won’t bore you with the details of the jobs done, they were necessary but also help to ground me. Physical work, lifting, pulling and endless trips back and forth are also good for our health. They build muscle strength without the boredom and egotism of a gym atmosphere but also create a link with you and the other elements of life that reside there. I can’t wait to get back for more.

I thought of Ladysmith Black Mambazos’ song – Rain Rain Beautiful Rain as I drove down to the woods yesterday. Except it hasn’t been beautiful for us! The photo above is a residential road in the town where I live during storm Ciara. It’s next to a river which has flooded twice in the last two weeks. I have lived here most of my life and this only used to occur maybe once in five or ten years. It’s an indication of what the experts keep telling us about climate change. We have had two named storms – Ciara and Dennis plus an almost equally strong unnamed storm this weekend and all in the space of two weeks. I’ve been getting cabin fever and woodland withdrawal symptoms. So although the forecast wasn’t great for yesterday, I needed to get down to the woods to check for any storm damage and some nature therapy.

I arrived early and met one of my woodland neighbours at the gate. He had a car full of bird boxes to put up and we chatted for a while. I had made a rustic box designed for Tree Creepers from the slices of wood I cleaved from his logs from the last visit. I had hoped it would work out well but it was very difficult to make and probably the last one I’ll attempt. These tiny birds normally nest under a piece of loose bark or a crevice somewhere’ so the design is very different to normal bird boxes. It’s wedge shaped and the entrance hole is right at the top and near the back of the box. I think it looks great now it’s fixed and blends in nicely.

I had a long list of small jobs I wanted to do – fix the bird box, drop the hung up tree from last time, take some firewood home, dig up a few plants to edge ponds with, stake up some saplings that had blown over. I managed to achieve all of it which was very satisfying. Before Spring comes I would like to have thinned out more sycamore trees but the windy weather makes that impossible. I think I’ve taken about fifteen down this winter which sounds a lot but has hardly scratched the surface with what needs doing. You can see from this photo there are plenty to go at still and plenty of work to clear up afterwards.

The good news is that no trees have been damaged during the storms and the hung up tree left from felling at the last visit, was relatively easy to bring down safely. I am building a small pond at home now and want some suitable plants to edge it with. There are clumps of Wood Sedge growing all over my woods. It’s looks like a clump of grass on steroids. I dug up a few small clumps to take home and also put a few more around my woodland pond. There’s no sign of life in that one yet but it’s still early. I shall order some oxygenating plants soon for both ponds which should improve their chances. Spring is starting to peep through now. I spotted the first brave shoots of Wood Anemones. and these Wild Garlic leaves.

The morning had started out calm but by mid morning, the wind had started gusting strongly. The tops of the lanky sycamore will crash and clatter together in an alarming way. The danger is not so much of trees blowing over but of dead branches detaching from the crown. So when it gusts hard, it’s time to pause from what you are doing and watch the trees above you. These dead branches are known as widow makers for good reason!

The sun came out frequently and lit up the woodland colours beautifully. After a busy day I took time for a slow walk and some photos. It’s always a joy just to take in the visual beauty and photography acts like a catalyst for me. Looking for potential photos slows your walk down and encourages you to really look. I’ll leave you with a few.

Primroses pushing through.

Storm Ciara was on it’s way and due to peak in the early hours of this morning but the forecast for yesterday was giving warnings of strong winds too. I really wanted to get down to the woods again, so many jobs to get done before Spring, so I decided to chance it. Most likely not as bad as predicted but probably too windy for felling but I took the chainsaw to cut up some of the ones still lying on the ground. I arrived nice and early to a calm woodland. Lots of bird calls and the sun just up. I savour this moment – a full day of woodland therapy and a feeling of contentment washes over me.

I decided to get stuck in with the chainsaw whilst it was calm and take a few small sycamore down. You think the small ones are going to be a doddle but that’s not the case. True to form the first one got badly hung up and despite undercutting it and lots of pulling sideways with a rope, it wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t too far from the ride so I backed the car in as close as I could, took the rope around another tree so that I was at right angles to the one that needed to come down, then tied it to the tow bar and inched forward. It worked brilliantly.

The next tree got hung up even worse, a forked branch lodged between another fork of a nearby tree. No way I could bounce it out so undercutting was on the cards. I don’t like this technique. Basically the tree is at an angle, so you cut from underneath about 3-4 feet from the base (which will be embedded in the soil now that you have attempted to fell it). When you cut through, the main part of the tree will fall down and toward the tree it is stuck in and the weight of it will drop it down by the amount you cut off. Sometimes that is enough to pull it out but this one had a lot of length still where it was jammed. A second undercut was still not enough. The more times you undercut it, the more upright and therefor dangerous to release. The tree is now almost straight up but embedded in the soil. No amount of pulling on the rope would budge it and it was too far away to get the car to it. I think the only way now is to winch it out. I have one at home so for now I have simply roped it off to warn others about it. The ride is rarely used and it’s so well stuck it’s not likely to come down unless of course (fingers crossed (storm Ciara lends a hand).

The tree in the middle is the hung up one. It looks small but it’s bigger and heavier than you think.

It was time for a brew. I brought my vintage Soviet made camping stove. Haven’t used it for about a year and I remembered how much I liked it. It’s just a cool looking piece of kit and does the job really well and perfect for my dinky little kettle. I love the little coffee filter too, can’t beat real coffee.

I took two more small trees down o.k. then after lunch headed to my pal’s woodland plot. We had been talking about making bird boxes and I have plans for a Tree Creeper nest box made from slices of bark covered logs. Steve has just felled some big Ash trees and kindly allowed me to have a go at cleaving some to have a go at the boxes. Ash splits beautifully and I loaded my wheelbarrow with potential pieces. I’ll have a go at making one this week.

I finished the afternoon shifting big logs, taking down deer netting from the coppiced hazel and heading home exhausted but highly satisfied. Good useful day.

Yesterday’s visit was busy and satisfying but also revealed a sad discovery. It was one that touched my heart deeper than expected and raised a question about how I feel about Nature. The main tasks of the day were to take my quarterly fixed point photos for the Woodland Trust and to clear out and check the bird nest boxes. Out of the fifteen boxes, only a couple had not been used. I remove the old nesting material, mainly moss and this is what I found in one of them. How would you describe it – gruesome? For me it was heart breaking. What appears to be an adult bluetit that has died on the nest while sitting on an egg. I wondered what had caused it to die and my woodland neighbour friend gave me a possible answer. Probably it was a second brood. He explained that the work of raising the first brood totally exhausts these tiny birds and trying to start a second brood is just too much for them.

Above photo -bluetit feeding

Why should I feel so sad? Am I just a complete softie? Yes, but there’s more to it than that. It made me ponder over my feelings for Nature and wildlife. Many people can say they have a love of Nature but that is similar to saying they have a love of chocolate or fast cars or sunny days. It just means they like it very much. You can say you love dogs but when you say “I love my dog” then that is totally different. It’s more than just liking something, it’s a feeling in your heart that is hard to describe. I’m sure we all know how that feels though. So what’s the difference? I reckon it’s through familiarity first, then a growing connection with the object that you love, be it a parent, child, dog etc. It doesn’t happen with chocolate or fast cars, it only seems to be with living things. We make a connection on a deeper level that somehow gives us these feelings we call love. Sometimes it manifests as joy, a warm and uplifting emotion and sometimes when we see our loved ones hurt or pass away, then it really hurts and saddens us too.

Above photo – Nuthatch feeding.

When I saw the little carcass of the bird and the unhatched egg, it made me realise how much I actually love these little creatures and that seems to be something that has turned from a love of Nature to a love for Nature. Since having my woodland, I have formed that connection with it and all the things that live there. It’s like a part of my family now. I guess that’s the difference and taking the dog analogy, you might be a dog lover but it’s only when you have formed a bond with a particular dog, that the true feeling of love arises.

To think about that tiny bird working itself to exhaustion just raises my admiration and love for it. It spends days foraging and building a nest, lays perhaps ten or more eggs, then constant trips back and forth foraging for food to feed them for the next three weeks. If that’s not enough, then they will often attempt a second brood. Burnt out with the effort, it passed away. If that doesn’t tug on your heart strings, then I don’t know what will. Sorry for such a long ramble about a dead bird but it had to come out!

The day was dry but very windy. At one point a fierce gust blew up causing these tall lanky sycamore trees to clap together loudly as the tops gyrated randomly, hitting each other. It was alarming to see that the heftier, older trees were moving significantly too. It’s easy to see how the weight and stress on them can cause them to topple or at least break large branches. This was Nature in a violent mood and one that deserves respect in a different way. You need to lift your eyes to the top of the trees to stay safe.

Lords and Ladies (Arum Maculatum)

Plants are starting to push through and some buds on trees are opening already, though it still looks very wintry. I’ll leave you with a few more photos.

Honeysuckle

Large old hazel – some nice walking stick material!

It was a crystal clear, inky black sky when I left home at 6.30am. A thin sliver of a waning moon hung low and I was looking forward to meeting a pal who was going to help me with some tree felling.  I leave this early to get a head start on the commuter traffic and also so that I get a full day at the woods. We met at the gate to the woods and headed up the rides to my four acre plot.

The photos above give you an idea of the type of trees I am felling. It makes up about a third of my whole woods and is a plantation of sycamore that is about fifty plus years old and standing around 20 metres tall . They were planted in lines very close together in order to draw them up to the light, to make tall straight trunks for timber production. Since then they have been neglected for several decades. Close competition for light and moisture, damage from grey squirrels and other factors means that they are now a mixed bunch of mostly poor specimens.

These woods have ancient woodland history, they existed long before man felled and replanted and part of my plan is to start restoring this area towards a more semi-natural condition. Because of my age, I don’t have many years to work at it and know that all I can do is to make a start on the process by thinning out many of the sickly, misshapen ones, to allow more light and nutrition available for the better examples. Opening a few areas by heavier thinning also gives me the opportunity to replant with a more diverse selection.

We started with a leisurely walkabout (no sign of Bertie the friendly robin still) and a search for the knife I lost a few weeks ago. My mate found it in the leafy floor in the hazel copse. I was elated. I hate losing things. Then we set-to with the chainsaw. We dropped four small to medium sized ones and cut then into four foot lengths for stacking. My main aim is to get a good few down before Spring and bird nesting season. I can then spend time in summer clearing the rest away.

We took a break to visit one of my neighbour’s plot to see the new clearing he has made. I am impressed with what he has achieved working on his own and in such a short time. This area will flourish with new ground cover, regenerating saplings, bird and insect life and whatever he decides to plant. I shall be including this area in my Woodland Trust fixed point photography project.

After lunch we had another round of felling and took four more down and cut those to length. It was a satisfying day and am grateful for the help given. My pal headed off home and left me for an end of day photo session. I was pleased to see some small bee activity at the nest box, indicating that they are still occupying it and thriving. I’ll leave you with a few wintry photos.